Synopsis[edit]
The novel is formally divided into a prologue followed by four parts.
The prologue of the book opens with a girl captured and restrained
inside a dark room by an unidentified male. To cope with being
captured, she mentally replays a past episode when she threw a milk
carton filled with gasoline onto another man inside a car and tossed
an ignited match onto him.
Part 1 – Irregular Equations[edit]
After finishing the job on the Wennerström affair (described in The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo),
Lisbeth SalanderLisbeth Salander disappeared from Sweden
and traveled throughout Europe. The novel opens with her on the shores
of the
CaribbeanCaribbean in St George's, the capital of Grenada. Salander has
become interested in
Fermat's Last TheoremFermat's Last Theorem and mathematics, an
interest that resounds with the opening page of each Part in this
novel. From within her room in her hotel she observes on several
occasions that her neighbor, Dr Forbes, an American tourist from
Texas, physically abuses his wife, in the next room to Salander's.
Salander also befriends George Bland, a 16-year-old orphaned student
living in a small shack and begins tutoring him in mathematics.
Salander finds Bland's company relaxing and enjoyable because Bland
does not ask her personal questions, and the two develop a sexual
relationship.
Salander uses her connections among the hackers' network to
investigate Dr Forbes and learns that he was once accused of
mishandling funds in his faith-based foundation. Currently he has no
assets, but his wife is the heiress to a fortune worth $40 million.
As a hurricane hits Grenada, concerns for the safety of the residents
at the hotel cause the hotel management to begin ushering them into a
cellar. Salander remembers Bland, and braves the strong wind and rain
to collect him. As the two reach the hotel entrance, Salander sees Dr
Forbes on the beach with his wife and realizes that he is attempting
to kill her for her inheritance. Salander attacks Forbes with the leg
of a chair and abandons him to the elements. Salander, Bland, and Mrs
Forbes retreat to the cellar and receive medical care; Dr Forbes is
later confirmed as the only fatality of the storm.
Part 2 – From Russia with Love[edit]
Lisbeth SalanderLisbeth Salander returns to
StockholmStockholm after more than a year's
absence. Immediately before the Wennerström affair became public
knowledge, Salander had laundered a sum of three billion kronor (the
equivalent of about half a billion $US) into a disguised bank account.
With this sum she purchases a new upscale apartment outside Mosebacke
Torg and moves out of her old apartment in Lundagatan (SV). Salander
allows her current sex partner, Miriam Wu, to move into her old
apartment, for the price of 1 krona and the condition that Wu forward
all of Salander's mail. Salander also re-establishes contact with
Dragan Armansky, her former boss at Milton Securities, and her former
legal guardian Holger Palmgren, who fell victim to a stroke at the
beginning of Dragon Tattoo.
Nils Bjurman, Palmgren's replacement, continues to nurture a growing
hatred for his ward after the events of Dragon Tattoo. His fury has
caused him to diminish his practice down to a single client (Salander)
and focus his attention on capturing her and destroying the film she
made of him raping her. He scrutinizes Salander's medical records, and
thus identifies an incident named "All the Evil" as well as a person
from her past as his strongest ally.
In the meantime, Mikael Blomkvist, the publisher of Millennium
magazine, has lost contact with Salander, who has refused even to open
his letters. He is therefore surprised, shortly after her return,
while he is walking past Salander's apartment in the vain hope of
running into her, to see her being attacked by a ponytailed man with a
beer gut, a member of the Svavelsjö outlaw motorcycle club. Blomkvist
attempts to help, to Salander's astonishment, and their joint efforts
enable her to elude her attacker.
Millennium is approached by Dag Svensson, a young journalist, and his
girlfriend, Mia Johansson. They have put together a
meticulously-researched report, ironically titled "From Russia with
Love", about sex trafficking in
SwedenSweden and the abuse of underage girls
by high-ranking figures; this is the subject of Johansson's doctoral
thesis and Svensson wants Millennium to publish his exposé in book
form. Whilst the research is mostly complete, Svensson, Johansson, and
the Millennium staff are intrigued by recurring mentions of "Zala", a
shadowy figure heavily involved in Sweden's sex-trafficking industry.
Salander, hacking Mikael Blomkvist's computer, is taken aback by the
mention of Zala, and visits Svensson and Johansson to ask questions.
Part 3 – Absurd Equations[edit]
Later the same night, Blomkvist calls on the couple, and finds them
both shot dead in their apartment, the killer having apparently left
the building only seconds before. Blomkvist notifies Erika Berger, the
Millennium's editor-in-chief and his lover, of the double murder, and
the magazine's management team holds an emergency meeting at which
they decide to postpone the publication of Svensson's book and the
associated magazine special. They decide to backtrack Svensson's
research to ensure the accuracy of the material, and to comb through
it for possible murder motives, while Blomkvist is tasked with
finishing Svensson's mostly-completed book.
Prosecutor Richard Ekström assembles an investigative team, led by
Inspector Jan Bublanski, who selects Sonja Modig for inclusion in the
team because of her sensitivity to women's issues. The team identifies
Salander's fingerprints on the murder weapon, and her formal record
establishes her as a violent, unstable, psychotic young woman with a
history of prostitution. Armansky, Blomkvist, and Berger all vouch for
Salander's intelligence and moral fiber; neither Blomkvist nor Berger
was even aware of her psychiatric history. While investigating
Salander's social circle, Modig finds Bjurman shot dead in his
apartment with his own revolver, the same weapon used on Svensson and
Johansson; Salander remains the prime suspect. In light of this new
evidence, Ekström holds a press conference and discloses Salander's
name and psychiatric history to the press, describing her as a danger
to others and herself.
Blomkvist enlists the help of managing editor Malin Eriksson to
investigate the murders, during which investigation Blomkvist realizes
that Salander has hacked into his notebook computer. He leaves her
notes on his desktop, and her replies point him to "Zala". Blomkvist
confronts Gunnar Björck, a policeman on sick leave and one of the
high-ranking abusers identified by Dag and Mia, who agrees to disclose
information about Zala if Blomkvist leaves him out of Millennium's
exposé.
Armansky realises that Milton Security should become involved in the
investigation and sends two of his employees, Hedström and Bohman, to
aid the formal police investigation. Miriam Wu returns from a Paris
trip to find herself taken to the police station, and she confirms
Salander's intelligence and moral character. However, Hedström, who
carries an old grudge against Salander, leaks Wu's identity to the
press, who publish stories about Wu's involvement in a Gay Pride
Festival and Salander's prior friendship with a female rock group;
both Wu and Salander are sensationalized in the media as members of a
"lesbian
SatanistSatanist gang". The press also publishes information about
Salander's past.
Part 4 – Terminator[edit]
Part 4 begins with Salander's wondering why the press's inside source
has chosen not to publicize "All the Evil", the events which dominated
the gap in her biography, information she knows would swing public
opinion even further against her. Blomkvist is approached by Paolo
Roberto, a boxing champion and Salander's former coach. Blomkvist asks
Roberto to help by finding Miriam Wu, who, released by the police, has
been avoiding all contact from the press, including Blomkvist. In the
meantime, at Salander's suggestion, Blomkvist focuses on Zala as the
key connection among the three murders and the sex trafficking. As the
police continue the investigation, Blomkvist's team also notices the
three-year gap in Salander's biography. Blomkvist decide to confront
Björck and trade his anonymity for information on Zala.
Roberto, staking out Salander's former apartment in the hopes of
catching Wu, witnesses her being kidnapped into a van by a paunchy man
with a ponytail (Salander's earlier attacker) and a "blond giant". He
follows the van to a warehouse south of Nykvarn, where he attempts to
rescue Wu by boxing with the giant. He finds his opponent unusually
muscular and totally insensitive to pain, and only through
applications of massive blunt trauma can he and Wu stun the giant
enough to escape. The giant recovers and sets the warehouse on fire to
destroy the evidence. However, Roberto is able to direct the police to
the site, where they find three buried and dismembered bodies.
Visiting Bjurman's summer cabin, Salander finds a classified Swedish
Security Service file written about "All The Evil", and begins to make
the connection between Bjurman and Zala, whose real name is Alexander
Zalachenko. By coincidence, two members of Svavelsjö MC, Carl-Magnus
Lundin (the paunchy ponytailed man) and Sonny Nieminen, have been
dispatched to burn the place down. Salander physically incapacitates
them, leaving more suspects for Bublanski to find. She returns to her
apartment and, having no choice, decides to find Zalachenko and kill
him. Salander discovers the blond giant's identity ("Ronald
Niedermann") and his connection to a post office box in Göteborg, and
she goes there to find him and Zalachenko.
In his apartment, Blomkvist finds Salander's keys, which he had picked
up after her escape from Lundin. He manages to find her new, upscale
apartment as well as the DVD revealing Bjurman's crime. With
information from Björck and Salander's former guardian, Holger
Palmgren, Blomkvist is able to piece together the entire story:
Zalachenko is a former Soviet defector under secret Swedish
protection, whose very existence is kept classified by Säpo; Bjurman
and Björck knew about him only because they happened to be the junior
officers on duty the day Zalachenko went into a police station and
demanded political asylum. Zalachenko, initially a source of vital
information on the USSR's intelligence operations to Säpo, began to
traffic in sex slaves on the side. He became the partner of a
17-year-old woman who became pregnant with twins, Lisbeth and Camilla.
Zalachenko was an itinerant father who physically and emotionally
abused his partner when he was home. The cycle of violence culminated
in Lisbeth Salander's deliberately setting his car alight with
gasoline while her father was in it. This is the event Salander refers
to as "All the Evil", since the authorities, instead of listening to
her pleas on behalf of her mother, imprisoned Salander and declared
her insane.
Salander's mother was left with the first of a series of cerebral
hemorrhages which consigned her to nursing homes and ultimately caused
her death. Salander realised that the government would never
acknowledge Zalachenko's crimes, which would require them to admit his
existence. Zalachenko was allowed to walk away, but suffered serious
injuries and had to have his foot amputated.
Niedermann had killed Svensson and Johansson on Zalachenko's orders:
when Salander visited them, she asked whether Bjurman had ever showed
up on their list of high-ranking abusers, and they called him
immediately after she left. Bjurman then called Zalachenko in a panic,
leading not only to their deaths but to his own, as well.
Blomkvist does not share all of his findings with Bublanski, out of
respect for Salander's privacy, but between his testimony, the various
character witnesses, and the additional accomplices piling up, the
police are forced to admit that their original suspicions of Salander
as a psychotic murderer may have been wrong. Milton Security are
ejected from the investigation when it becomes clear that Hedström is
the inside source who has been leaking sensational details to the
press. Armansky is satisfied, as his true goal in aiding the
investigation—ensuring Salander is not simply condemned as a
murderer out of hand—has been achieved. Finally, Blomkvist finds
Niedermann's
GöteborgGöteborg address, and sets off for the farm where
Niedermann and Zalachenko await. He has deduced that Salander has
entered what Roberto and his boxing friends called "Terminator Mode",
where she attacks without restraint to defend her life and those she
cares about.
Salander enters the farmhouse and is captured as a result of secret
cameras and alarms Zalachenko had installed. Zalachenko tells Salander
that Niedermann is her half-brother. When Salander attempts to escape,
Zalachenko shoots her in the hip, shoulder, and head, and Niedermann
buries her, not realising she is still alive. Battling through immense
pain, Salander slowly digs herself out and again attempts to kill
Zalachenko with an axe, noting that Zalachenko's use of a Browning .22
firearm is the only reason she survived. On his way to Göteborg,
Blomkvist sees Niedermann trying to hitch a ride, captures him at
gunpoint, and ties him against a signpost by the road. The book ends
as Blomkvist finds Salander and calls emergency services.
Characters[edit]
Main characters[edit]

Mikael BlomkvistMikael Blomkvist – A journalist and publisher at Millennium magazine
Lisbeth SalanderLisbeth Salander – A private investigator, hacker, and accused
triple-murderer
Alexander Zalachenko (Zala) a.k.a. Karl Axel Bodin – A former Soviet
spy who turns out to be deeply involved in Salander's dark past
Ronald Niedermann a.k.a. The Giant – Zalachenko's henchman who is
connected to Salander in a way which she does not realise
Carl-Magnus Lundin – The President of Svavelsjö Motorcycle Club
(Svavelsjö MC) who sells drugs and is commissioned to kidnap Salander
for Zala

Dragan Armansky – Salander's former boss and director of Milton
Security
Sonny Bohman – A former policeman and part of the team Armansky
assigns to support the police investigation
Johan Fräklund – Chief of Operations at Milton Security and
assigned to support police investigation
Niklas Hedström – Works for Milton Security and is assigned to
support police investigation but sabotages it. A heart problem kept
him from becoming a police man. He hates Salander since she caught him
blackmailing a client

Annika Gianinni – Blomkvist's sister and an attorney
Miriam "Mimmi" Wu – A kickboxer, university student and Salander's
best friend
Nils Bjurman – An attorney and Salander's current guardian since
Palmgren's stroke
Paolo RobertoPaolo Roberto – A former professional boxer and Salander's boxing
instructor. The character is based on the real boxer Paolo Roberto.
Gunnar Björk – A Swedish Security Police officer and former punter
abusing women. He is also the lead source for Blomkvist on Zalachenko.
Holger Palmgren – Lisbeth Salander's former guardian; she visits him
in a rehabilitation home and they play a game of chess together. In
her memoir "There Are Things I Want You to Know" About Stieg Larsson
and Me,
Eva Gabrielsson tells readers that this chess game was
inspired by her brother Björn who
Stieg Larsson used to play the game
with and with whom he was very close.[2]
Greger Beckman – Erika Berger's husband
George Bland – Black teenage boy whom Salander has an affair with in
Grenada
Richard Forbes – Reverend and Salander's hotel room neighbour in
Grenada
Geraldine Forbes –
Battered wifeBattered wife of Richard Forbes
Sonny Nieminen – Part of Svavelsjö MC and involved in trying to
kidnap Salander

Reception[edit]
The English version was published in January 2009 and immediately
became a number 1 bestseller.[1] It received generally positive
reviews from most of the major UK newspapers. Many reviewers agreed
with Joan Smith at
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times that this novel was “even more
gripping and astonishing than the first”. Carla McKay at the Daily
Mail said that, like its predecessor, the book is "not just a
thrilling read, but tackles head-on the kind of issues that Larsson
himself railed against in society".[3]
Most of the reviewers concentrated mainly on the character of Lisbeth
Salander, with Mark Lawson at the Guardian saying that "the huge
pleasure of these books is Salander, a fascinating creation with a
complete and complex psychology."[4] Boyd Tonkin in The Independent
said: "the spiky and sassy
Lisbeth SalanderLisbeth Salander – punkish wild child,
traumatised survivor of the 'care' system, sexual adventurer and
computer hacker of genius" was "the most original heroine to emerge in
crime fiction for many years".[5] Michiko Kakutani at The New York
Times wrote that "Salander and Blomkvist, transcend their genre and
insinuate themselves in the reader’s mind through their oddball
individuality, their professional competence and, surprisingly, their
emotional vulnerability."[6]
Cultural notes[edit]
The character of
Paolo RobertoPaolo Roberto is an actual person. He is a former
boxer and television chef who has also dabbled in politics. He played
himself in the 2009 film adaptation of the book.[7][8]
In the first part of the book, Salander is exploring Dimensions in
Mathematics apparently written by L. C. Parnault and published by
Harvard University PressHarvard University Press in 1999. On February 9, 2009, Harvard
University Press announced on their website that this book and the
author are purely fictitious.[9]
The mysterious Karl Axel Bodin, in whose house Salander finds
Zalachenko and Niedermann, is a historical name. Bodin was born in
KarlstadKarlstad and later moved to Sundsvall. He went to
NorwayNorway to join the
Waffen-SS; at the end of World War II, he was attached to the
country's branch of the Gestapo. At the war's end, Bodin and another
Swedish volunteer stole a car in an attempted escape to Sweden. The
car's owner saw the theft, and soon a gunfight erupted in which the
car owner and Bodin's friend were shot. Bodin left his friend behind
and crossed the border.[10]
Film and television adaptations[edit]

The Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with Fire (film), 2009
Millennium, a Swedish six-part television miniseries based on the film
adaptations of Stieg Larsson's series of the same name, was broadcast
on SVT1 from 20 March 2010 to 24 April 2010. The series was produced
by Yellow Bird in cooperation with several production companies,
including SVT, Nordisk Film, Film i Västm, and ZDF Enterprises.
Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Edition is the title of the TV
miniseries release on DVD, Blu-ray, and video on demand in the US.
This version of the miniseries comprises nine hours of story content,
including over two hours of additional footage not seen in the
theatrical versions of the original Swedish films. The four-disc set
includes two hour special features and extended editions of The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo,
The Girl Who Played with FireThe Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who
Kicked the Hornet's Nest.[11]